Photo ou archives : F-M. Dumas
5109
GARRARD
500cc Forecar - 1904
Evolutionary dead end
Meetings of mechanically-minded enthusiasts are as old as motorcycling. One tum-of-the-century group that gathered regularly in the British industrial city of Birmingham centered around engineer James Lansdowne Norton, whose company made chains.
Wealthy Entrepreneur
Another member of the circle was a wealthy entrepreneur, Charles Riley Garrard, who saw the potential of the new craze. In 1902, he concluded a deal to import French-built Clement engines for installation into British frames, calling the result "Clement-Garrards".
Full Suspension
"Pa" Norton built the frames for Garrard and soon decided to produce his own bikes, offering virtually identical machines as the Norton "Energette" in 1902. Norton bikes soon became world famous, while Garrard's products faded away, though not before the company had begun to manufacture tri-cars, then seen as a kind of halfway step between motorcycles and automobiles. Many of these machines were just motorcycles with a two-wheeled "forecarriage" bolted on in place of the front forks, but Garrard used a specially designed three-wheeled frame. He fitted his forecar with a front and rear suspension, at a time when most machines had no springing at all. However, the forecar craze was short-lived; the introduction of small low-priced cars provided a more popular alternative, and the forecar was dead by 1907.
SPECIFICATIONS
Engine: 500cc water-cooled single-cylinder four-stroke; total-loss lubrication; magneto ignition
Power Rating: 3.5 hp
Valves: automatic intake, side exhaust
Fuel System: carburetor
Transmission: 3-speed hand-shift; leather-faced cone clutch; shaft-and-worm gear final drive
Suspension: semi-elliptic leaf (front); swinging cantilever with coil spring (rear)
Brakes: dummy belt rim (rear)
Wheels: 26x2.5 inch clincher (front & rear)
Weight: 392 lb
Maximum Speed: 20 mph
With its elegant wickerwork forecarriage and purpose-built frame, the Garrard "suspended tri-car" was nevertheless a technological dead end.